C aravan of Thieves is celebrating its fifth year as a band and, by extension, five years of really liking each other.

"We're hitting the road hard recently and we celebrated that we don't want to punch each other in the face," singer and guitarist Carrie Sangiovanni said. "We still get along and we love what we're doing."

The gypsy jazz quartet -- which also includes Sangiovanni's husband, Fuzz, on vocals and guitar, Ben Dean on violin and Brian Anderson on double bass -- has three albums behind them and a track record of endless touring. As these things go, the music has evolved and gained better focus as the band members have grown closer.

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"Well the more time we spend together on stage and off the stage, we just get more familiar with each other, as people and what we want to hear and the kind of music that we want to play," Fuzz said. "There are little things that develop and big things that develop. I think everyone is getting more comfortable as years go by. When we first started the band, it was just a general concept, but we didn't know what direction it would take as a band."

One thing that's remained the same is Caravan of Thieves' theatricality. The shows are highly interactive. The band brings audience members up on stage and makes sure to take moments for audience participation in the music. It's a concert, first and foremost, but with some extra flair.

Part of that flair is the band's kitchen-closet percussion arsenal. If you can find it in your pantry or drawers, the band is probably banging it all together to make a rhythm section.

"We got a new cheese grater and some whisks so that's awesome," Carrie said of this tour.

"This tour, I kind of built a whole new rig out of some new things I found," Fuzz said. "The whisks was a nice change because the spoons are kind of one dimensional. You bang on it and that's the sound, but [the whisks are] delicate and you can change the sound depending on where you hit it and the different pans you hit. One sounds like a timbali, one sounds like a cowbell, and one sounds like a wood block."

In the down time, Caravan of Thieves is also working on its next record. In the spirit of constant growth, this one will drop the gypsy sounds a little and focus on the jazz, with the addition of gospel and blues elements. The new material has been getting the road test treatment on this stretch of touring, and Fuzz said it's been well-received, though he can't identify what it is that connects with audiences so well.

This tour is also special for Coloradoans because the band went out of its way to be here. In addition to Saturday's show in Lyons and next weekend's show in Denver, the band is stopping in Fort Collins, Fruita, Carbondale and Colorado Springs.

"This tour was actually planned around making sure we had time for Colorado," Fuzz said. "We're just happy to see that Colorado has become an important stop along the way for us, because it's become one of the hubs in the country of music, entertainment and art."

If you feel like swinging, stomping and clapping, head out to Wildflower Pavilion this weekend and prove him right.

New coordinator pushes Buffs to work, play at level he expectsJim Leavitt has discovered this much about his new defense at Colorado: He has some talent with which to work, but his players need to put it in another gear. Full Story

New coordinator pushes Buffs to work, play at level he expectsJim Leavitt has discovered this much about his new defense at Colorado: He has some talent with which to work, but his players need to put it in another gear. Full Story